Japanese robot uses neurons grown in the lab to avoid obstacles

Japanese researchers have built a robot with brain-like neurons that were grown in the lab, in order to teach it to'think like us'. In experiments at the University of Tokyo, the compact robotic vehicle on wheels, small enough to fit in a person's palm, was placed in a simple maze. The robot was connected to a culture of brain neurons, also known as nerve cells, that were grown from living cells. When these artificial neurons were electrically stimulated, the machine successfully reached its goal – a black circular box. A neuron, also known as nerve cell, is an electrically excitable cell that takes up, processes and transmits information through electrical and chemical signals.